Former President John Dramani Mahama has taken a swipe at the government for “lying” to bondholders.

According to him, the government lied to individual bondholders when it announced the debt exchange program and assured that individual bondholders were exempted from the programme.

But on December 24, 2022, the government said individual bondholders will be affected by the programme.

This has faced huge opposition as they have rejected the proposal and the invitation by the government.

John Mahama also stated that the government has badly managed the economy, while pushing more Ghanaians into poverty.

“Outrageous! Gov't lies to individual bondholders; forces a haircut, and plunging more people into poverty! An absolute failure in managing our economy,” he said in a tweet sighted by GhanaWeb Business.

Meanwhile, the acceptance of the invitation by the government is crucial to the success of the debt exchange programme as the individual bondholders hold about GH¢8 billion of government bonds.

Analysts have also stated that a failure of the programme will pose great financial threats to Ghana’s economy.

This may also affect the country’s chances of securing financial support from the International Monetary Fund.

Financial Analyst, Joe Jackson said “If we don’t get this debt exchange programme through then we will not be able to achieve our debt sustainability, then the IMF programme will either be delayed or may even be at risk.

“Up until now, the markets have been treating us kindly because everybody’s assumption is that somewhere in February or March IMF is coming through. If we don’t achieve our debt right, if we have to stress them again then IMF will not come when it is due or back off and then, the chaotic debt reforms we are trying to prevent will now happen with all the dark consequences of not being able to access any funds anywhere,” he is quoted by 3news.com.

Outrageous!
Gov't lies to individual bond holders; forces a haircut, and plunging more people into poverty! An absolute failure in managing our economy.

— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) January 12, 2023